Power of the Sword

by Wilbur Smith Book 2 in the The Burning Shore Sequence series.

First published 1986

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4.5(6,816)

South Africa from 1931 into the Second World War. Centaine has become a successful businesswoman and must protect the interests of her acknowledged son Shasa and her secret son Manfred de la Rey during the Great Depression. The novel follows the growth of Afrikaner nationalism and the influence of European fascism on South African politics before and during the war.

The half-brothers grow into political and personal opponents as nationalism, racial ideology and sympathy for Nazi Germany divide the country. Centaine’s earlier choices shape a contest for influence that extends from business into wartime politics. Economic collapse and ideological mobilisation deepen the brothers’ rivalry, showing how private inheritance can become inseparable from competing visions of national power.